Heating apparatus, heat treatment apparatus, and heating method

ABSTRACT

A heating apparatus, a heat treatment apparatus, and a heating method are provided. The heating apparatus includes a workpiece support on which a ring-shaped workpiece is placed, a rotary drive assembly, and a heater configured to heat the workpiece. The workpiece support includes a plurality of rotating rollers arranged in a circumferential direction. The rotary drive assembly is configured to rotate the plurality of rotating rollers to rotate the workpiece placed on the workpiece support along a ring shape of the workpiece. The heater includes a heating coil configured to induction-heat the workpiece on the workpiece support at a heating position, and an actuator configured to move the heating coil at the heating position relative to the workpiece to adjust a distance between the workpiece and the heating coil.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority from Japanese PatentApplications No. 2011-057309 filed on Mar. 15, 2011, and No. 2011-057310filed on Mar. 15, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heating apparatus, a heat treatmentapparatus and a heating method for induction heating a ring-shapedworkpiece.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, to heat a ring-shaped workpiece, the workpiece issupported by a supporting device, e.g., a chuck mechanism, and is heatedby a heating coil while being rotated. To heat a large ring-shapedworkpiece, there has been proposed a heat treatment apparatus whichheats the workpiece without clamping the workpiece with a chuckmechanism.

According to a first related art, a high-frequency heat treatmentapparatus is configured to heat a large ring-shaped member, such as abearing ring. The ring-shaped member is supported on a turntable, and aplurality of horseshoe-shaped heating coils are arranged in acircumferential direction of the ring-shaped member. The ring-shapedmember is heated by the heating coils while being rotated together withthe turntable. See, e.g., JP 2005-325409 A.

According to a second related art, a heat treatment apparatus isconfigured to heat the entire annular member by a high-frequency heattreatment. In this heat treatment apparatus, a large annular member issupported on a plurality of support rollers, and a radially outersurface or a radially inner surface of the annular member is pressed bythree or more positioning rollers to position the annular member. Theannular member is induction-heated by heating coils while being rotated.See, e.g., JP 2009-287074 A.

In the related art heat treatment apparatuses, however, the workpiece iscarried in using a support tool for carrying in, and the workpiece issupported and positioned on a jig such as the turntable or the supportroller when heating the workpiece, and thereafter, the workpiece iscarried out using a support tool for carrying out. Thus, the workpieceis placed on different jigs or support tools when carrying in, heatingand carrying out. In the case of a large workpiece, the gravity centerof the workpiece has to be adjusted to stably convey the workpiece whencarrying in or out the workpiece, and the workpiece has to be positionedwith good accuracy when heating to realize a desired heating. Forexample, during the heating, a ring-shaped workpiece is rotated about acenter axis thereof. Therefore, onerous work is necessary to positionthe workpiece, and the positioning structure is complex. Further,structures for supporting the workpiece for conveying and heating arerespectively provided, so that the configuration is complex.

According to the first related art, the ring-shaped workpiece issupported and rotated on the turntable, and the workpiece needs to havea shape that fits the turntable so that the workpiece can be rotatedtogether with the turntable. Thus, a workpiece that can be heated by theheat treatment apparatus is limited. In other words, the turntable hasto be able to turn with the workpiece fixed thereto, and a turntableneeds to match the workpiece to be heat treated. Thus, there is a lackin versatility.

According to the second related art, the workpiece is placed on therotating rollers to rotate the workpiece by the rotating rollers. Thus,when the workpiece is large, so that deformation of the workpiece due tothe heating is relatively large, it is not easy to maintain a constantgap between the heating coil and the workpiece. Further, when theworkpiece is positioned by pressing the inner or outer surface of theworkpiece by the positioning rollers, stress is applied to the heatedand softened workpiece, which may result in deformation of theworkpiece.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstancesdescribed above, and it is an object thereof to provide a heatingapparatus, a heat treatment apparatus, and a heating method, capable ofeasier heat treatment with a wider range of use.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a heating apparatus isprovided. The heating apparatus includes a workpiece support on which aring-shaped workpiece is placed, a rotary drive assembly, and a heaterconfigured to heat the workpiece. The workpiece support includes aplurality of rotating rollers arranged in a circumferential direction.The rotary drive assembly is configured to rotate the plurality ofrotating rollers to rotate the workpiece placed on the workpiece supportalong a ring shape of the workpiece. The heater includes a heating coilconfigured to induction-heat the workpiece on the workpiece support at aheating position, and an actuator configured to move the heating coil atthe heating position relative to the workpiece to adjust a distancebetween the workpiece and the heating coil.

The heating position may be between adjacent ones of the rotatingrollers.

The heating apparatus may further include a position detector providedupstream of the heating position in a rotating direction of theworkpiece to detect a position of a surface of the workpiece, so thatthe actuator moves the heating coil based on a detection by the positiondetector.

The heating apparatus may include a plurality of sets of the heaters andthe actuators, and a plurality of said position detectors provided forthe respective sets of said heaters and said actuators.

The rotary drive assembly may include a drive device, and a rotary drivemechanism configured to transmit a driving force of the drive device tothe plurality of rotating rollers. The rotary drive mechanism mayinclude a drive gear rotated by the drive device, and a plurality ofdriven gears, each of the driven gears being engaged with the drive gearand connected to an associated one of the rotating rollers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a heat treatmentapparatus is provided. The heat treatment apparatus includes the heatingapparatus described above, and a cooling unit configured to cool theworkpiece heated by the heater, and the drive device is disposed abovethe workpiece.

The heating apparatus may further include a central structure unit towhich the workpiece support is connected such that the plurality ofrotating rollers is arranged around the central structure unit and suchthat the workpiece is placed on the workpiece support to surround thecentral structure unit, a loading section in which the workpiece isplaced on the plurality of rotating rollers, a heating section in whichthe heater is provided, and a conveyor mechanism configured to conveythe workpiece support together with the workpiece in a suspended mannerbetween the loading section and the heating section. The centralstructure unit may include a conveyor connecting portion connected tothe conveyor mechanism to suspend the workpiece support together withthe workpiece.

The conveyor mechanism may include a suspending portion engaged with theconveyor connecting portion such that the suspending portion isdisengageable from the conveyor connecting portion in a lateraldirection.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a heatingmethod is provided. The heating method includes placing a ring-shapedworkpiece on a plurality of rotating rollers arranged in acircumferential direction, setting the workpiece at a heating positionto face a heating coil, moving the heating coil to adjust a position ofthe heating coil relative to the workpiece, rotating the rotatingrollers to rotate the workpiece along a ring shape of the workpiece, andinduction-heating the workpiece.

In this heating method, the rotating rollers may be connected to acentral structure unit and arranged in the circumferential directionaround the central structure unit, and the workpiece may be placed onthe rotating rollers such that the workpiece surrounds the centralstructure unit. The heating method may further include after the placingis carried out in a loading section, conveying the workpiece togetherwith the rotating rollers from the loading section to a heating section,in which the heating coil is provided, such that central structure unitis suspended.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a jig of aheating apparatus is provided. The jig is configured to support aring-shaped workpiece when conveying and heating the workpiece. The jigincludes a central structure unit, a rotary drive mechanism accommodatedin the central structure unit, and a workpiece support connected to thecentral structure unit and configured such that the workpiece is placedon the workpiece support to surround the central structure unit. Theworkpiece support comprises a plurality of rotating rollers arranged ina circumferential direction around the central structure unit. Thecentral structure unit includes a conveyor connecting portion configuredto suspend the workpiece support together with the workpiece placed onthe workpiece support, and a driver connecting portion from which adriving force is input to the rotary drive mechanism. The rotary drivemechanism is configured to rotate the rotating rollers by the drivingforce to rotate the workpiece along a ring shape of the workpiece.

The driver connecting portion may be disposed above the workpiecesupported on the workpiece support.

The rotary drive mechanism may include a drive shaft connected to thedriver connecting portion, and a plurality of driven shafts connected tothe plurality of rotating rollers. The drive shaft may include a drivegear, and each of the driven shafts may include a driven gear engagedwith the drive gear. In this configuration, the rotating rollers rotatethe workpiece about a rotation center extending along the drive shaft.

The workpiece support may further include a workpiece positioningportion configured to position an inner circumference or an outercircumference of the workpiece, and the workpiece positioning portionmay be provided in a protruding manner above the plurality of rotatingrollers.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a heatingapparatus is provided. The heating apparatus includes the jig describedabove, a loading section in which the workpiece is placed on the jig, aheating section comprising a heater configured to heat the workpieceplaced on the jig, and a conveyor mechanism configured to convey the jigin a suspended manner between the loading section and the heatingsection. The conveyor connecting portion is connected to the conveyormechanism.

The conveyor mechanism may include a base unit configured to be movablebetween the loading section and heating section, a suspending portionconnected to the conveyor connecting portion, and a drive deviceconnected to the driver connecting portion. The suspending portion andthe drive device may be attached to the base unit. The drive device andthe driver connecting portion may be connected together by connectingthe suspending portion to the conveyor connecting portion.

The drive device may be engaged with the driver connecting portion suchthat and the drive device is disengageable from the driver connectingportion in a vertical direction, and the suspending portion may beengaged with the conveyor connecting portion such that the suspendingportion is disengageable from the conveyor connecting portion in alateral direction.

The suspending portion may include a plurality of locking pins arrangedin the circumferential direction such that each of the locking pins isslidable in the lateral direction, and the conveyor connecting portionmay include a plurality of locking holes into which the locking pins areinserted respectively, each of the locking holes having an upwardlytapered triangular shape.

The conveyor mechanism may further include a conveyor rail providedbetween the loading section and the heating section, a lifter; a biasingdevice, a lateral movement base configured to move along the conveyorrail and to which the lifter and the biasing device are attached, and alifting base to which the suspending portion is attached. In thisconfiguration, the lifting base is connected to the lateral movementbase such that the lifting base is capable of moving up and downrelative to the lateral movement base. The lifter is configured to movethe lifting base up and down. The biasing device is configured toupwardly bias the lifting base when the lifting base is moving up.

The heating section may include a circumferential positioning portionconfigured to position the jig with respect to the circumferentialdirection.

The heating apparatus may further include a preparatory jig adapted tobe suspended on the suspending portion, and a preparatory sectionconfigured to accommodate the preparatory jig. In this configuration,the conveyor rail is provided to extend to the preparatory section, andthe preparatory jig is configured to hold a component of the heater,such as the heating coil.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a heattreatment apparatus is provided. The heat treatment apparatus includesthe heating apparatus described above, and a cooling section disposedbelow the heating section such that, when the jig is lowered, theworkpiece placed on the jig is cooled in the cooling section.

The heating section may include a stopper configured to support the jigfrom below such that the stopper releases the jig when cooling theworkpiece in the cooling section.

When the jig is placed in the cooling section, the drive device may bedisposed above the cooling section.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a heatingmethod is provided. The heating method includes placing a jig in aloading section, the jig including a central structure unit and aplurality of rotating rollers connected to the central structure unitand arranged in a circumferential direction around the central structureunit, placing a ring-shaped workpiece on the plurality of rotatingrollers such that the workpiece surrounds the central structure unit,conveying the jig from the loading section to a heating section suchthat the jig is suspended at the central structure unit, rotating therotating rollers by transmitting a driving force input to the centralstructure unit to the rotating rollers to rotate the workpiece along aring shape of the workpiece in the heating section, andinduction-heating the workpiece by a heating coil.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, the drawings and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a heat treatment apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the heat treatment apparatus, withoutillustration of some heaters;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a jig of the heat treatment apparatus;

FIG. 4A is a vertical sectional view of the jig and an lifting base ofthe heat treatment apparatus;

FIG. 4B is a partial side view of a central portion of the jig;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conveyor loader of a conveyor mechanism ofthe heat treatment apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the conveyor mechanism taken along theline VI-IV in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the conveyor mechanism taken along theline VII-VII in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the conveyor mechanism taken along theline VIII-VIII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a partial side view of the heat treatment apparatus in whichthe lifting base is lowered;

FIGS. 10A to 10C are explanatory views illustrating operations forconnecting the lifting base and the jig;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a heating section of the heat treatmentapparatus;

FIG. 12 is a side view of a jig stopper and a workpiece holding unit ofthe heating section;

FIG. 13A is a rear view of a heater and an actuator of the heatingsection;

FIG. 13B is a side view of the heater and the actuator;

FIG. 13C is a partial plan view of the heater;

FIG. 14 is a partial side view of a position detector of the heatingsection;

FIGS. 15A to 15C are explanatory views illustrating operations of theheating section and a cooling section of the heat treatment apparatus;

FIGS. 16A to 16C are explanatory views illustrating a quenching methodin the heat treatment apparatus;

FIG. 17A is a front view of a heating coil of the heat treatmentapparatus;

FIG. 17B is a partial front view illustrating a shape of aworkpiece-facing portion of a heating coil according to a modifiedexample; and

FIG. 18 is a partial front view showing a shape of a portion of aworkpiece-facing heating coil according to another modified example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the drawings.

The embodiment will be described by taking as an example a rotaryquenching machine for quenching a large heating object. The heatingobject has a ring-shape having a diameter of 1 m or more, here, 3 m ormore, and is a large turning ring, or an inner ring or an outer ring ofa large bearing. A heating portion of the heating object hassubstantially the same shape along the entire circumference.

Overall Configuration

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a heat treatment apparatus 10 includes a jig100 configured to support a workpiece W, a loading and unloading section300 where the workpiece W is loaded and unloaded, a conveyor mechanism200 configured to convey the jig 100 while suspending it, a heatingsection 400 where the workpiece W placed on the jig 100 is heated whilebeing rotated, a cooling section 500 provided below the heating section400, and a component replacing section 600 (a preparatory section)provided at an opposite side from the loading and unloading section 300.The jig 100, the conveyor mechanism 200, the loading and unloadingsection 300, the heating section 400, and the component replacingsection 600 form a heating apparatus.

Jig

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the jig 100 includes a workpiece support 110on which the workpiece W is placed, a central structure unit 130 at thecenter of the workpiece support 110, and a rotary drive mechanism 150 (atransmission unit) configured to rotate the workpiece W placed on theworkpiece support 110 along a ring shape of the workpiece W.

The workpiece support 110 includes a plurality of radial bases 111 whichare joined to a lower portion of the central structure unit 130 andwhich extends in a radial direction and rotating rollers 112 which aredisposed at distal ends of the respective radial bases 111 along theradial direction. At least three or more radial bases 111 and rotatingrollers 112 are provided. In this embodiment, eight radial bases 111 androtating rollers 112 are provided so as to be aligned at equal intervalsin a circumferential direction. A space is provided between adjacentones of the radial bases 111.

As shown in FIG. 4A, each of the rotating rollers 112 has a core member113, and a ceramic cylindrical member 114 fixed to a circumference ofthe core member 113. The core member 113 is rotatably supported byheat-resistant bearings 115 on the radial base 111 at their respectiveends. In this embodiment, each of the cylindrical member 114 is formedto have a side circumferential surface having a constant diameter alongits entire length, so that a portion of the side circumferential surfacethat contacts the workpiece W is substantially horizontal. The materialand shape of the cylindrical members 114 can be changed in accordancewith a workpiece W. For example, the cylindrical member 114 may beformed to have a smooth side circumferential surface or a textured sidecircumferential surface, e.g., with a plurality of grooves.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a workpiece positioning roller 121 is provided oneach of the radial bases 111 to position an inner circumference or anouter circumference of the workpiece W. This workpiece positioningroller 121 is provided to project upwards from each rotating roller 112so as to rotate freely about a substantially vertical axis.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the central structure unit 130 includes acylindrical connecting protrusion 131 which projects upwards from thecenter of the workpiece support 110. A gearbox 151 and a drive shaft 152of the rotary drive mechanism 150 are disposed in an interior of theconnecting protrusion 131, so that the connecting protrusion 131 isconcentric with the drive shaft 152.

The connecting protrusion 131 has a conveyor connecting portion 132 tosuspend the entire jig 100 by a conveyor loader 220. A driver connectingportion 133 is disposed inside the connecting protrusion 131, and thedriver connecting portion 133 is fixed to an end portion of the driveshaft 152. The conveyor connecting portion 132 includes a plurality oflocking holes 134 formed at equal intervals along a circumference of theconnecting protrusion 131. As shown in FIG. 14B, each of the lockingholes 134 has a substantially triangular shape. The driver connectingportion 133 has a first engagement member 141 which forms a part of adog clutch mechanism 140.

The locking holes 134 and the first engagement member 141, at which theconveyor connecting portion 132 and the driver connecting portion 133are connected respectively, are arranged above an upper edge of theworkpiece W that is supported on the plurality of rotating rollers 112.

The rotary drive mechanism 150 is provided in the central structure unit130 and the workpiece support 110 so as to transmit a driving forceinput to an upper end portion of the central structure unit 130 to therotating rollers 112. The rotary drive mechanism 50 includes the driveshaft 152 disposed in a vertical direction at the center of the centralstructure unit 130, and driven shafts 153 disposed individually on therespective radial bases 111 of the workpiece support 110 so as toconnect the rotating rollers 112 to the central structure unit 130. Thedrive shaft 152 and the driven shafts 153 are connected to each other inthe gearbox 151.

The driver connecting portion 133 is provided at an upper end of thedrive shaft 152, and a drive gear 154 is fixed to a lower end of thedrive shaft 152. The driving force is input to the driver connectingportion 133 from the conveyor mechanism 200. A driven gear 155 isprovided at one end of each driven shaft 153, and the core member 113 ofthe rotating roller 112 is connected to the other end of each drivenshaft 153 via a universal joint 156.

In the gearbox 151, the respective driven gears 155 of the driven shafts153 are allowed to mesh with the drive gear 154 fixed to the drive shaft152. Gear ratios of the drive gear 154 to the respective driven gears155 are all the same.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a bottom portion positioning hole 123 is providedin a bottom portion of the central structure unit 130 for positioningthe central structure unit 130. Cam followers 125 are provided atrespective distal ends of the plurality of radial bases 111 forpositioning the radial bases 111 in the circumferential direction.

According to this jig 100, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, the workpiece Wis placed on the plurality of rotating rollers 112 of the workpiecesupport 110. A large positioning error of the workpiece W is preventedby the inner circumferential surface or outer circumferential surface ofthe workpiece W being brought into abutment with the workpiecepositioning rollers 121.

In this state, the entire jig 100 on which the workpiece W is placed canbe suspended at the central structure unit 130. When the driving forceis input from the driver connecting portion 133 of the central structureunit 130, the respective rotating rollers 112 rotate, whereby theworkpiece W rotates along the ring shape of the workpiece W.

Loading and Unloading Section

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the loading and unloading section 300,there are provided a loading and unloading position P1 where a workpieceW from the previous step is loaded and unloaded and a suspendingposition P2 where the jig 100 is connected to and disconnected from theconveyor mechanism 200. The loading and unloading section 300 includes aloading base 311, loading and unloading rails 313 which are providedsubstantially parallel on the loading base 311 so as to extend from theloading and unloading position P1 to the suspending position P2, aloading and unloading carriage 315 adapted to move along the loading andunloading rails 313 and a conveyor drive unit 317 which moves theloading and unloading carriage 315.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a jig supporting structure 320 is provided on theloading and unloading carriage 315 for supporting the jig 100. The jigsupporting structure 320 includes a engagement protrusion 321 adapted tobe fitted in the bottom portion positioning hole 123 in the jig 100 soas to dispose the central structure unit 130 in a predeterminedposition, a central supporting base 323 provided around a circumferenceof the engagement protrusion 321 so as to be brought into abutment withthe bottom portion of the central structure unit 130 to support thecentral structure 130, distal-end supporting bases 325 adapted to bebrought into abutment with respective distal-end bottom portions of theradial bases 111 to support the radial bases 111 at the distal endsthereof, and positioning recess portions 327 adapted to accommodatetherein the cam followers 125 provided at the distal ends of the radialbases 111 so as to position the radial bases 111 in the circumferentialdirection.

In this loading and unloading section 300, the loading and unloadingcarriage 315 is disposed in the loading and unloading position P1, sothat the workpiece W is placed on the workpiece support 110 of the jig100. The loading and unloading carriage 315 is moved from the loadingand unloading position P1 to the suspending position P2 by the conveyordrive unit 317 and is then stopped in the suspending position P2. Thisenables the central structure unit 130 of the jig 100 to be disposed inthe suspending position P2 while being oriented in a predetermineddirection with good accuracy.

Conveyor Mechanism

As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conveyor mechanism 200 has conveyorrails 210 which are disposed over the respective sections and theconveyor loader 220 adapted to move along the conveyor rails 210.

A pair of side frame members 21 are disposed on a frame 20 so as toextend continuously and substantially horizontally above the loading andunloading section 300, the heating and cooling sections 400, 500 and thecomponent replacing section 600. The conveyor rails 210 are providedindividually on the pair of side frame members 21 so as to be parallelto each other.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a linear rack 212 is provided lateral to aside surface of one of the conveyor rails 210 so as to extendcontinuously over a substantially entire length of the conveyor rail210, and a pinion 237 of the conveyor loader 220 meshes with the rack212. As indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 8, a rail stopper 213 isprovided at an end portion of the conveyor rail 212 to stop the conveyorloader 220 at a given position. While the rail stopper 213 at the endportion of the conveyor rail 212 on a side of the loading and unloadingsection 300 is illustrated in FIG. 8, a similar rail stopper 213 is alsoprovided at an end portion of the conveyor rail 212 on a side of thecomponent replacing section 600.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the conveyor loader 220 includes a lateralmovement base 230 disposed on the conveyor rails 210 so as to move alongthe conveyor rails 210, a lateral movement mechanism 231 configured tomove the lateral movement base 230, an lifting base 240 connected to alower portion of the lateral movement base 230 to move together with thelateral movement base 230, and an lifting mechanism 260 configured tomove the lifting base 240 up and down relative to the lateral movementbase 230.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the lateral movement base 230 includes alateral movement table 232 which has a width equal to or wider than aspace between the pair of conveyor rails 210 and a lateral movementsupport 233 which is erected at an intermediate portion in a widthdirection of the lateral movement table 232.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lateral movement mechanism 231 includes alateral movement support member 234, such as a rolling ring or a slider,configured to movably support the lateral movement table 232 on the pairof conveyor rails 210, a lateral movement motor 235 (e.g., a gearedmotor) secured to the lateral movement table 232 and whose rotationspeed is adjustable, and the pinion 237 connected to an output shaft 236of the lateral movement motor 235 and adapted to mesh with the rack 212on the conveyor rail 210.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lifting base 240 includes a liftingsupport base 242, and lifting auxiliary bases 243 which are providedabove and integrally with respective sides of the lifting support base242. The lifting base 240 is mounted on the lateral movement base 230via the lifting mechanism 260. The lifting support base 242 includes asuspending portion 245 for connection to the conveyor connecting portion132 of the jig 100 and a rotary drive device 246 connected to the driverconnecting portion 133 of the jig 100 so as to drive the drive shaft152.

As shown in FIGS. 4A, 6 and 7, the suspending portion 245 includes acylindrical suspending protrusion 247 extending downward from thelifting support base 242 to accommodate an upper end portion of theconnecting protrusion 131 of the jig 100, and a plurality of lockingdevices 248 provided at positions corresponding to the locking holes 134of the jig 100.

Each of the locking devices 248 includes a holding member 249 fixed tothe suspending protrusion 247, a locking pin 251 held by the holdingmember 249 so as to slide in a horizontal direction, and a locking driveportion 252 (e.g., an air cylinder) configured to drive the locking pin251. As shown in FIG. 4B, the locking hole 134 in the jig 100 is formedinto a substantially triangular shape which is larger than the lockingpin 251. The locking hole 134 has a width which is wider than thelocking pin 251 at a lower side and a width which corresponds to thelocking pin 251 at an upper side thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 6, the rotary drive device 246 includes arotary drive motor 255 (e.g., a servo motor) fixed to the liftingsupport base 242, a second engagement member 142 mounted on an outputshaft 256 of the rotary drive motor 255, and a engagement biasing member257 (e.g., a spring) configured to bias the second engagement member 142downwards along the output shaft 256.

The rotary drive device 246 is engaged with and disengaged from thedriving connecting device 133 of the jig 100 in a vertical direction.The second engagement member 142 of the output shaft 256 of the rotarydrive motor 255 is brought into meshing engagement with the firstengagement member 141 of the drive shaft 152 of the jig 100, whereby thedog clutch mechanism 140 is provided. Thus, the rotary drive assembly 30for rotating the workpiece W is configured such that the rotary drivedevice 246 is connected to the driver connecting portion 133 of the jig100 by the dog clutch mechanism 140.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the lifting mechanism 260 includes a lifter261 configured to move the lifting base 240 up and down, a biasingdevice 262 configured to bias the lifting base 240 upwards when thelifting base 240 is moving up, and an lifting guide 263 configured toguide the up and down movement of the lifting base 240.

The lifter 261 includes a lifting motor 265 (e.g., a servo motor) fixedto an upper portion of the lateral movement support 233 of the lateralmovement base 230, a screw shaft 267 fixed to an output shaft 266 of thelifting motor 265 and disposed rotatably in a substantially verticaldirection, an lifting plate 268 screwed to the screw shaft 267 so as tomove up and down in association with the rotation of the screw shaft267, and four connecting rods 271 disposed in the vertical direction toconnect the lifting plate 268 and the lifting support base 242 of thelifting base 240.

The lifting guide 263 includes four lifting guide rods 274 connected tothe lifting support base 242 at lower ends thereof and connectedtogether by a connecting plate 273 at upper ends thereof, and fourbearings 275 fixed to the lateral movement table 232 of the lateralmovement base 230 to support the respective lifting guide rods 274 in avertically movable manner. The four lifting guide rods 274 are disposedsubstantially in the vertical direction so as to be movable in thevertical direction.

The biasing device 262 includes two hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders 277that are fixed to the lateral movement table 232. A linearly moving rod278 of each hydraulic cylinder 277 is disposed substantially in thevertical direction and is fixed to the lifting auxiliary base 243.

In this conveyor mechanism 200, in order to cause the conveyor loader220 to run on the conveyor rails 210, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, thelateral movement motor 235 is driven to rotate the pinion 237 whichmeshes with the rack 212 clockwise or counterclockwise. The conveyorloader 220 can be stopped accurately in predetermined positions over theloading and unloading section 300, the heating and cooling sections 400,500 and the component replacing section 600 by the rail stoppers 213 anda position detecting sensor 279 shown in FIG. 6.

To connect the jig 100 to the conveyor loader 220 and suspend the jig onthe conveyor loader 220, the lateral movement base 230 of the conveyorloader 220 is stopped in position, and the lifting base 240 is lowered.Then, the suspending portion 245 is connected to the conveyor connectingportion 132 of the jig 100, the rotary drive device 246 is connected tothe rotary drive mechanism 150 of the jig 100, and the lifting base 240is lifted up.

To lower the lifting base 240 by the lifting mechanism 260, as shown inFIGS. 6 and 8, the screw shaft 267 is rotated by the lifting motor 265of the lifter 261 to move the lifting plate 268 down, so that thelifting base 240 is lowered. The linearly moving rods 278 of thehydraulic cylinders 277 follow the movement of the lifting base 240, andare pulled downwards. FIG. 9 shows a state in which the lifting base 240is lowered.

To move the lifting base 240 upward, the screw shaft is rotatedcounterclockwise. At the same time, hydraulic pressure is supplied tothe hydraulic cylinders 277 to bias the lifting base 240 upwards by thelinearly moving rods 278. In this way, the lifting base 240 is movedupwards by the lifter 262 while being biased upwards by the biasingdevice 262.

In order to connect the suspending portion 245 to the conveyorconnecting portion 132 of the jig 100, the conveyor loader 220 isstopped with good accuracy relative to the jig 100. By doing this, thelifting base 240 and the central structure unit 130 of the jig 100 aredisposed in a predetermined relative position while being orientedrelative to each other.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the lifting base 240 is moved down, so that theconnecting protrusion 131 of the jig 100 is inserted into the suspendingprotrusion 247. As shown in FIG. 10B, the lifting base 240 is moved downto a certain height, so that the height of the locking devices 248 andthe height of the conveyor connecting portion 132 coincide with eachother. To do this, alternatively, an upper end of the connectingprotrusion 131 may be brought into abutment with an apex portion insidethe suspending protrusion 247 so that the height of the locking devices248 and the height of the conveyor connecting portion 132 are caused tocoincide with each other.

As shown in FIG. 10C, the respective locking pins 251 are caused toadvance in the horizontal direction such that the suspending portion 245and the conveyor connecting portion 132 of the jig 100 are disposed inthe predetermined relative position. Then, the respective locking pins251 are inserted into the corresponding locking holes 134 in theconveyor connecting portion 132 to thereby be locked in place in thelocking holes 134 in the connecting protrusion 131. This enables thesuspending portion 245 and the connecting protrusion 131 to be connectedto each other. When the locking pins 251 are withdrawn in the horizontaldirection, the locking pins 251 are disengaged from the locking holes134 to thereby release the locked state.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the locking hole 134 is formed into thesubstantially triangular shape which is narrow on an upper side of thelocking pin 251 and is wider on a lower side thereof. Therefore, thelocking pin 251 can easily be engaged in and disengaged from a lowerside of the locking hole 134. When the lifting base 240 is moved up tosuspend the jig 100 such that the locking pins 251 are kept inserted inthe locking holes 134, the locking pins 251 are locked at the upper sideof the locking holes 134. Therefore, the jig 100 can be positioned withthe conveyor loader 220 with good accuracy.

The rotary drive device 246 is connected to the driver connectingportion 133 of the jig 100 at the same time as the suspending portion245 is connected to the conveyor connecting portion 132.

As shown in FIG. 10A, when the lifting base 240 is moved down from aposition above the jig 100, as shown in FIG. 10B, the second engagementmember 142 of the rotary drive motor 255 is inserted into the connectingprotrusion 131 of the jig 100, so as to be brought into meshingengagement with the first engagement member 141 of the driver connectingportion 133 in the vertical direction. In this state, when the lockingdevices 248 and the conveyor connecting portion 132 are locked togetherin the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 10C, the lifting base 240is connected to the connecting protrusion 131 of the jig 100, wherebythe meshing engagement state between the first engagement member 141 andthe second engagement member 142 is maintained.

The second engagement member 142 is biased downwards by the engagementbiasing member 257. Therefore, a certain degree of freedom is providedin the vertical relative position between the first engagement member141 and the second engagement member 142, whereby when connectedtogether, the first engagement member 141 and the second engagementmember 142 can be connected together in a smooth manner. Once both themeshing members are connected together, the meshing engagement state canbe maintained with an appropriate pressure.

By the rotary drive device 246 and the driver connecting portion 133 ofthe jig 100 being connected together as shown in FIG. 10C, the drivingforce of the rotary drive device 246 is transmitted to the rotatingrollers 112 via the rotary drive mechanism 150, whereby the rotatingrollers 112 can be driven to rotate by the rotary drive assembly 30.

Heating Section

As shown in FIGS. 2, 11 and 12, the heating section 400 includes jigholding mechanisms 410 disposed on a heat treatment base 40 on the frame20 to holding the jig 100 in position, workpiece holding units 420configured to hold the workpiece W on the jig 100, and heaters 450configured to heat the workpiece W on the jig 100.

The jig holding mechanisms 410 and the heaters 450 are provided aroundthe center of the jig 100, that is, a rotation center C of the workpieceW. The jig holding mechanisms 410 are provided in positions whichcorrespond to the radial bases 111 and the rotating rollers 112 on thejig 100. The jig holding mechanisms 410 may be provided in all thepositions which correspond to the radial bases 111 and the rotatingrollers 112. However, in this embodiment, the jig holding mechanisms 410are provided in part or some of the positions which correspond to theradial bases 111 and the rotating rollers 112. Specifically, the jigholding mechanisms 410 are provided in four locations which are spacedat substantially equal intervals.

Heating positions P3 where the workpiece W is heated are set in spacesbetween the adjacent ones of the radial bases 111 of the jig 100, andthe respective heaters 450 are provided so as to correspond to theheating positions P3. The heaters 450 are disposed preferably atsubstantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction relativeto the rotation center C of the workpiece W.

As shown in FIG. 12, the jig holding mechanism 410 includes acircumferential positioning portion 411 adapted to position the jig 100in the circumferential direction and a heightwise positioning portion412 adapted to position the jig 100 in a height direction.

As shown in FIG. 12, the heightwise positioning portion 412 includes ajig stopper 413 provided inside a tub 510 in a swingable manner tosupport the jig 100 from below, a stopper drive cylinder 414 provided ona stopper support 41 of the heat treatment base 40 to swing the jigstopper 413, and a link 416 connecting the jig stopper 413 and a rod 415of the stopper drive cylinder 414. When the rod 415 moves in thehorizontal direction, the jig stopper 413 swings about a stopper fulcrum417, a supporting end 418 is moved between a supporting position, atwhich the jig 100 is supported, and a releasing position below thesupporting position.

As shown in FIG. 12, the circumferential positioning portion 411includes a plurality of guide rails 419 which are erected within the tub510 of the cooling section 500, which will be described later. The guiderail 419 has a guide groove 419 a which is opened at an upper endthereof and is disposed in a substantially vertical direction. By thecam followers 125 at the distal ends of the radial bases 111 of the jig100 being accommodated in the guide grooves 419 a, the respective radialbases 111 are guided when the jig 100 is moved up and down, and the jig100 is positioned circumferentially and radially in the respectivepositions.

The workpiece holding unit 420 is provided on part or all of theheightwise positioning portions 412. As shown in FIG. 12, the workpieceholding unit 420 includes a swing base 421 provided on the stoppersupport 41 on the heat treatment base 40, and a pushing drive unit 422(e.g., an air cylinder) configured to swing the swing base 421. A lineardrive unit 424 (e.g., an air cylinder) is mounted on the swing base 421,and a holding bracket 429 is fixed to a distal end of a linearly movingrod 428 of the linear drive unit 424. A roller bracket 432 is supportedrotatably by a rotary shaft 431 provided in the holding bracket 429, anda holding roller 425 is supported rotatably in the roller bracket 432.The rotary shaft 431 is disposed substantially horizontally so as to beperpendicular to the linearly moving rod 428. The holding roller 425 isdisposed substantially horizontally so as to be perpendicular to therotary shaft 431.

The swing base 421 swings about a swing fulcrum 426. The linear driveunit 424 swings together with the swing base 421 and reciprocates fromthe rotation center C of the workpiece W along the radial direction. Theholding roller 425 is caused to swing and reciprocate by the lineardrive unit 424 and further is caused to swing by the rotary shaft 431.Therefore, the holding roller 425 is brought into abutment with theworkpiece W on the jig 100 and rotates about a substantially horizontalaxis.

As shown in FIGS. 13A to 13C, each of the heaters 450 includes a heatingcoil 451 configured to induction-heat the workpiece W on the jig 100 atthe heating position P3, a support box 452 accommodating a transformerinside and supporting the heating coil 451, and an actuator 460configured to move the support box 452 to move the heating coil 451. Theheater 450 includes a position detector 480 configured to detect asurface position of the workpiece W. In this embodiment, a positionadjusting handle 461 is provided which controls in advance the positionof the heating coil 451 in the vertical and horizontal directions, aswell as a distance from the rotation center C of the workpiece W.However, a detailed illustration thereof is omitted herein.

As shown in FIGS. 13B and 13C, the heating coil 451 is configured so asto be disposed to face a surface of a portion of the circumference ofthe workpiece W disposed at the heating position P3 with a gaptherebetween. In this embodiment, when viewed from above, the heatingcoil 451 is formed into an arc shape that corresponds to an arc shape ofthe portion of the workpiece W to be heated, and a vertical section ofthe heating coil 451 corresponds to a vertical section of the portion ofthe workpiece W to be heated.

For example, the heating coil 451 may be a pipe-shaped, rod-shaped orplate-shaped coil material having a substantially constant cross-sectionand wound up and down repeatedly in certain regions along thecircumferential direction of the workpiece W. Specifically, as shown inFIG. 17A, angular pipes are joined together such that a hollow portionis continuously formed along the entire length of the joined pipes. Withan inlet port 451 b and an outlet port 45 c for a coolant provided atboth ends of the resulting pipe, the pipe may have a zigzag shape inwhich the pipe is bent at a plurality of bent portions 451 d which facethe workpiece W.

The support box 452 may be configured such that it can energize theheating coil 451 when heating the workpiece W and support the heatingcoil 451 in a stable manner.

As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the actuator 460 includes a verticalmovement portion 462 which vertically moves the support box 452 and ahorizontal movement portion 463 which horizontally moves the support box452 along the radial direction from the rotation center of the workpieceW.

The vertical movement portion 462 includes a movement base 42 fixed tothe heat treatment base 40, a lower base 464 disposed on the movementbase 42, and a vertical drive mechanism 465 which vertically moves thelower base 464 relative to the movement base 42.

The vertical drive mechanism 465 includes a movement guide rod 466 and avertical movement threaded shaft 467, which are vertically arranged andfixed to the lower base 464, a bearing 468 fixed to the movement base 42to support the movement guide rod 466 in a vertically movable manner, amotor 469 (e.g., a servo motor) fixed to the movement base 42, and aconnecting member 471 provided on the movement base 42 to verticallymove the vertical movement threaded shaft 467 by the rotation of themotor 469.

The horizontal movement portion 463 includes first rails 472 arranged onthe lower base 464 in a direction substantially perpendicular to theradial direction of the workpiece W, an upper base 473 movably arrangedon the first rails 472, a first movement drive mechanism 474 which movesthe upper base 47 s along the first rails 472, and second rails 475arranged on the upper base 473 along the radial direction of theworkpiece W. The horizontal movement portion 463 further includes asecond movement drive mechanism 476 which moves the support box 452,which is supported movably on the second rails 475, along the secondrails 475.

Each of the first and second movement drive mechanisms 474, 476 includesa motor 477 (e.g., a servo motor), a rotatably driven horizontalmovement threaded shaft 478 connected to the motor 477 and arrangedalong the first or second rails 472, 475, and a protrusion 479 providedon the upper base 473 or the support box 452 and screwed onto thehorizontal movement threaded shaft 478. In a case in which the heatingcoil 451 can be positioned in advance with respect to the directionsubstantially perpendicular to the radial direction of the workpiece W,the first movement drive mechanism 474 may not be provided.

As shown in FIG. 11, the position detector 480 is disposed upstream ofeach of the heating positions P3. In this embodiment, one positiondetector 480 is disposed for each two heating positions P3 at a positioncorresponding to the upstream one of the radial bases 111 of the jig100.

As shown in FIG. 14, each of the position detectors 480 is mounted on aposition detector base 44 provided on a position detector support 43 onthe heat treatment base 40. Each of the position detectors 480 includesa radial position detecting device 483 mounted on the position detectorsupport 43 via first linear movement mechanism 481, and an axialposition detecting device 484 mounted thereon via a second linearmovement mechanism 482. The radial position detecting device 483 and theaxial position detecting device 484 are disposed perpendicularly to eachother.

Each of the first and second linear movement mechanisms 482, 482includes a linear drive device 485 (e.g., an air cylinder), and aplurality of guide rods 487 which are parallel to a rod of the lineardrive device 485. The reciprocating mechanisms 481, 482 are preventedfrom falling along respective detecting directions of the positiondetecting devices 483, 484.

Each of the radial position detecting device 483 and the axial positiondetecting device 484 includes a heat resistant contact element 488 whichis brought into abutment with the surface of the workpiece W so as torotate, and a displacement detector 489 configured to detect adisplacement of the contact element 488 while biasing the contactelement 488 towards the workpiece W. For example, an air cylinder with alinear sensor can be used for each displacement detector 489.

The radial position detecting device 483 detects a change in the surfaceposition of the workpiece W along the radial direction from the rotationcenter C of the workpiece W. The axial position detecting device 484detects a change in the surface position of the workpiece W along anaxial direction of the rotation center C of the workpiece W.

In this heating section 400, in order to dispose the workpiece W in theheating position P3, the jig 100 is disposed in position by the conveyorloader 220 shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 15A, all the heating coils 451 are moved away from therotation center C of the workpiece W by the horizontal movement portions463, so as to form a space where the workpiece W is allowed to movedown. At the same time, the holding rollers 425 shown in FIG. 12 and theposition detecting devices 483, 483 are also moved away as far aspossible from the rotation center C of the workpiece W. In this state,as shown in FIG. 9, the jig 100 is lowered by moving down the liftingbase 240.

When the jig 100 is lowered, as shown in FIG. 12, in the circumferentialpositioning portion 411 of the jig holding mechanism 410, the camfollower 125 provided at the distal end of the radial base 111 isinserted into the guide groove 419 a in the guide rail 419, whereby thejig 100 is positioned in the circumferential direction. In a state inwhich the jig stopper 413 of the heightwise positioning portion 412 isprojecting, the bottom portion of the radial base 111 of the jig 100 atthe distal end thereof is brought into abutment with the supporting end418, whereby the workpiece W on the jig 100 is disposed in thepredetermined position.

In the jig holding mechanism 410, the distal end positions of theplurality of radial bases 111 of the jig 100 are restricted in thecircumferential direction and the height direction by thecircumferential positioning portion 411 and the heightwise positioningportion 412, respectively. By doing this, the jig 100 can be disposed ina stable manner during heating, and the workpiece W can be rotated in astable manner on the jig. Thus, even when a magnetic force is applied inthe circumferential direction of the jig 100 during the inductionheating of the workpiece W or when an inertial force is applied whilethe workpiece W is rotated or stopped, the position error of the jig 100can be prevented.

In the heating section 400, the workpiece W on the jig 100 is heated asfollows.

As shown in FIG. 15A, with the workpiece W on the jig 100 set inposition in the heating section 400, the heating coil 451 of each of theheaters 450 is moved by the vertical movement portion 462 and thehorizontal movement portion 463, so that the heating coil 451 isdisposed to face the surface of the workpiece Win the respective heatingpositions P3.

In this state, the workpiece W is rotated along the ring shape of theworkpiece W by the rotating rollers 112 of the jig 100. As shown in FIG.12, in the workpiece holding unit 420, the holding roller 425 isadvanced by the linear drive unit 424 and is lowered by the pushingdrive unit 422. The holding roller 425 holds the uppermost surface oredge of the workpiece W and rotates so as to follow the surface of theworkpiece W. The workpiece W rotates in a stable manner by being held bythe holding roller 425 from above.

In each of the position detectors 480, as shown in FIG. 14, therespective contact elements 488 of the radial position detecting device483 and the axial position detecting device 484 are brought intoabutment with the workpiece W. When the workpiece W is rotated, each ofthe contact elements 488 that are in contact with the surface of theworkpiece W rolls and also moves back and forth as the surface of theworkpiece W is displaced. The displacement of the contact elements 488is detected by the corresponding displacement detectors 489, whereby avertical displacement and a horizontal displacement of the surface ofthe workpiece W are detected.

For example, by measuring a reciprocating amount of each contact element488 from an arbitrary circumferential position of the workpiece W as areference position, a displacement of the workpiece W from the referenceposition in the respective position in the circumferential direction ofthe workpiece W is detected. Since the workpiece W is the annular body,the workpiece returns to its originating position after having rotatedone full rotation.

The displacements of the surface of the workpiece W which are measuredby the respective position detecting devices 483, 484 of each positiondetector 480 are transmitted to a control unit, not shown. In thecontrol unit, a timing and position where the respective portion on thesurface of the workpiece W which has passed by the correspondingdetection position will pass by the heater 450 which is situateddirectly downstream of the detecting position can be obtained with goodaccuracy based on the displacements of the workpiece W and the rotationspeed of the rotary drive motor 255. Therefore, when the respectiveportion of the workpiece W passes by the heating position P3, bydisplacing the heating coil 451 so as to correspond to the position soobtained by the actuator 460, a constant space can be maintained betweenthe heating coil 451 and the surface of the workpiece W in a stablemanner at all times.

In this state, by energizing each of the heating coils 451 by thecorresponding support box 452 for induction heating, the workpiece W isheated. By doing this, the entire circumference of the workpiece W canbe heated uniformly with good accuracy.

Cooling Section

As shown in FIGS. 2, 12 and 13, the cooling section 500 includes the tub510 provided below the heating section 400, a plurality of coolingjackets 520 (cooling units) disposed inside the tub 510, the pluralityof guide rails 419 which are also used commonly by the heating section400, and a plurality of abutment protrusions 525 supporting the bottomportions of the radial bases 111 of the jig 100.

The tub 510 is provided so as to surround the jig 100 and the workpieceW with a view to preventing the scattering of coolant. The plurality ofcooling jackets 520 are disposed so as to face an inner circumferentialside and an outer circumferential side of the workpiece W to therebyspray coolant to the workpiece W. The cooling jackets 520 are disposedin a plurality of circumferential positions of the workpiece W atsubstantially uniform intervals.

To cool the workpiece W in this cooling section 500, as shown in FIG.12, the jig stoppers 413 of the heightwise positioning portions 412 inthe heating section 400 are caused to swing downwards so as to bereleased from the supporting condition. As shown in FIG. 9, the jig 100supporting the workpiece W is lowered by the conveyor loader 220. Thejig 100 may not be moved up before being lowered. The jig 100 may belowered while rotating the workpiece W on the jig 100.

When the lifting base 240 of the conveyor loader 220 is moved down, asshown in FIG. 12, the cam followers 125 of the jig 100 are lowered whilebeing guided by the guide rails 419 to thereby be brought into abutmentwith the abutment protrusions 525, whereupon the jig 100 is stopped. Therotary drive device 246 and the connecting devices 132, 133 are disposedabove the cooling section 500.

As shown in FIG. 15C, with the workpiece W disposed in a predeterminedposition in the cooling section 500, coolant is injected from thecooling jackets 520 while the workpiece W is being rotated, whereby theentire workpiece W can be cooled uniformly.

Component Replacing Section

The component replacing section 600 (a preparatory section) shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 is used when replacing one or more components of theheating section 400 and the cooling section 500. In this embodiment, anexample will be described in which the heating coils 451 are changed inaccordance with a workpiece to be treated.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the component replacing section 600 includesa component replacement base 50, component replacement rails 610 whichare provided on the component replacement base 50, a componentreplacement carriage 615 which can move on the component replacementrails 610, and a component replacement jig 620 which is placed on thecomponent replacement carriage 615.

The component replacement jig 620 is adapted to convey the heating coils451 of the heating section 400 and includes a connecting protrusion 131like the connecting protrusion 131 of the jig 100 and a plurality ofsupport arms which are provided so as to extend in a radial directionfrom the connecting protrusion 131. The connecting protrusion 131 isprovided so as to project upwards from the center of the plurality ofsupport arms 621 and has locking holes 134 like the locking holes 134provided in the jig 100. This configuration enables the componentreplacement jig 620 to be suspended by the suspending portion 245 of theconveyor mechanism 200.

The plurality of support arms 621 are provided to extend radially fromthe connecting protrusion 131 so as to be oriented to face therespective support boxes 452 of the plurality of heaters 450 of theheating section 400. Although not shown, holding portions to hold theheating coils 451 are provided at respective distal ends of the supportarms 621.

The component replacement jig 620 is placed on the component replacementcarriage 615 such that the support arms 621 of the component replacementjig 620 are oriented so as to coincide in position with the respectivesupport boxes 452. In this state, the component replacement carriage 615is adapted to move between a preparatory position P4 and a suspendingposition P5.

With the component replacement carriage 615 stopped in the suspendingposition P5, the connecting protrusion 131 of the component replacementjig 620 is disposed in a position where the connecting protrusion 131 isallowed to be connected by the lifting base 240 of the conveyor loader220.

In order to change heating coils 451 in the component replacing section600 that is configured in the way described above, the componentreplacement jig 620 is caused to hold the plurality of heating coils 451in a predetermined orientation with the support arms 621 in thepreparatory position P4. Then, the component replacement carriage 615 ismoved to the suspending position P5. The conveyor loader 220 of theconveyor mechanism 200 is moved to a space above the component replacingsection 600, and the lifting base 240 is moved down. As with the jig100, the suspending protrusion 247 of the lifting base 240 is connectedto the connecting protrusion 131.

In this state, the lifting base 240 is moved up. Thereafter, theconveyor loader 220 is moved to a space above the heating section 400.The lifting base 240 is moved down so that the heating coils 451 held bythe component replacement jig 620 are disposed in positions situated inthe vicinity of the corresponding support boxes 452. Then, the heatingcoils 451 are mounted in the corresponding support boxes 452.

Quenching Method

Next, a method will be described of quenching a workpiece W by use ofthe heat treatment apparatus 10.

A quenching method of this embodiment includes a preparatory step ofsetting the relevant units, devices and portions to match a workpiece Wto be treated, a loading step of loading a workpiece W to place it onthe jig 100, a conveying step of conveying the jig 100 on which theworkpiece W is placed, a heating step of induction heating the workpieceW on the jig 100, a cooling step of cooling the workpiece W on the jig100, and an unloading step of unloading the quenched workpiece W.

In the preparatory step, the relevant units, devices and portions areset to match the size and shape of the workpiece W to be treated. Whenmounting the components of the heaters 450 such as the heating coils 451in the heaters 450, the component replacing section 600 and thecomponent replacement jig 620 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are used.

In the component replacing section 600, the support arms 621 of thecomponent replacement jig 620 are individually caused to hold theheating coils 451 on the component replacement carriage 615. As shown inFIG. 16C, the component replacement jig 620 is conveyed by the conveyorloader 220 of the conveyor mechanism 200. The heating coils 451 held bythe component replacement jigs 620 are disposed in the positions whichcorrespond to the respective support boxes 452 of the heaters 450. Inthis state, the heating coils 451 are mounted in the correspondingsupport boxes 452. Thereafter, the component replacement jig 620 isreturned to the component replacing section 600 by operating theconveyor mechanism 200 in a reverse manner.

In the loading step, the workpiece W to be heated is loaded in theloading and unloading section 300 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and theworkpiece W is placed on the jig 100 for conveyance.

In the loading and unloading position P1 in the loading and unloadingsection 300, with the jig 100 placed on the loading and unloadingcarriage 315, the workpiece W is placed on the jig 100. As shown in FIG.3, the workpiece W is placed on the plurality of rotating rollers 112 ofthe jig 100 so as to surround the central structure unit 130 and withone end face thereof oriented downwards.

The loading and unloading carriage 315 is moved to the suspendingposition P2 and is then stopped there. Thus, the jig 100 on which theworkpiece W is placed is disposed in the predetermined position.

In the conveying step, the jig 100 on which the workpiece W is placed issuspended by the conveyor loader 200 of the conveyor mechanism 200 so asto be conveyed from the loading and unloading section 300 to the heatingsection 400.

As shown in FIG. 16A, the lifting base 240 of the conveyor loader 220 ofthe conveyor mechanism 200 is moved down. Then, as shown in FIGS. 10A to10C, the suspending portion 245 of the lifting base 240 is connected tothe central structure unit 130 of the jig 100 disposed in the suspendingposition P2 in the loading and unloading section 300.

After moving up the lifting base 240 of the conveyor loader 220, theconveyor loader 220 is moved to the space above the heating section 400as shown in FIG. 16B. Then, as shown in FIG. 15A, the jig 100 islowered, so that the workpiece W placed on the jig 100 is disposed inthe heating section 400.

In the heating step, the workpiece W placed on the jig 100 is inductionheated in the heating section 400 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 15B, the heating coils 451 are disposed to face theheating positions P3 on the surface of the workpiece W with thepredetermined space defined therebetween by the actuators 460. With thejig 100 held by the jig holding mechanisms 410, the rotating rollers 112are rotated by the rotary drive assembly 30 so as to rotate theworkpiece W along the ring shape thereof. The peripheral speed of theworkpiece W is maintained constant by the rotary drive assembly 300, andthe space between the workpiece W and the heating coils 451 ismaintained constant by the position detecting devices 483, 484 and theactuators 460. In this state, all the heating coils 451 are fed for apredetermined period of time from the corresponding support boxes 452 soas to heat uniformly the workpiece W along the entire circumference ofthe workpiece W.

In the cooling step, as shown in FIG. 15C, after the heating of theworkpiece W is completed, the lifting base 240 of the conveyor loader220 is moved down, so that the workpiece W placed on the jig 100 isdisposed in the cooling section 500. Coolant is sprayed to the workpieceW from the cooling jackets 520 which are provided in the plurality ofpositions while rotating the workpiece W.

After the cooling is completed, the lifting base 240 is moved up asshown in FIG. 16B and is then moved to the suspending position P2 in theloading and unloading section 300 as shown in FIG. 16A. Then, the jig100 is placed on the loading and unloading carriage 315 in the loadingand unloading section 300 as indicated by an imaginary line. The loadingand unloading carriage 315 on which the jig 100 is placed is then movedto the loading and unloading position P1 for conveyance to a posteriorstep. This ends the quenching process of the workpiece W.

Advantages

According to the heat treatment apparatus 10 described above, theworkpiece W is placed on the plurality of rotating rollers 112 of theworkpiece support 110 for rotation. Therefore, the workpiece W can berotated without being clamped or fastened in place, so that there is ahigh flexibility with respect to the size and shape of the workpiece W.Thus, the size and shape of the workpieces W to be heated can be easilychanged by selecting suitable heating coils 451, and even a largering-shaped workpiece W can be heated. Thus, a range of use is broad.

When heating the workpiece W, it is not the position of the workpiece Wbut the positions of the heating coils 451 that are adjusted by theactuators 460. Therefore, the rotation center C of the ring-shapedworkpiece W does not have to be positioned at the center of theworkpiece W. That is, even when the rotation center C and the center ofthe workpiece W are not on the same point, the space between theworkpiece W and the heating coils 451 can be maintained constant withgood accuracy. Even when the workpiece W is heavy, the distance betweenthe workpiece W and the heating coils 451 can easily be controlled withgood accuracy by the simple configuration. When heating the workpiece W,unnecessary stress is not loaded on the workpiece W, and therefore, thedeformation of the workpiece W can be prevented. Therefore, even a largeworkpiece W can be heated with good accuracy by the simpleconfiguration.

Consequently, the heat treatment apparatus 10 has a wide range of usewith a simple configuration, and can heat even a large workpiece W withgood accuracy.

In the heat treatment apparatus 10, the heating position P3 is providedbetween adjacent ones of the rotating rollers 112. Therefore, the freeopen state can be realized between the rotating rollers 112 which lieadjacent to each other where other members do not come into contact withthe entire circumference of the workpiece W which is at right angles tothe rotating direction of the workpiece W. The heating position P3 isprovided in this position, and therefore, any portion on the surface ofthe workpiece W can be heated. Consequently, by commonly using thestructures such as the workpiece support 110 and the rotary driveassembly 30, a workpiece W of an arbitrary shape can be heated byselecting heating coils 451 of an appropriate shape to the workpiece Wto be heated.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the position detector 480 isprovided to detect the position of the surface of the workpiece W, andthe heating coil 451 is moved based on the results of the detectioncarried out by the position detector 480. Even when the workpiece W isrotating such that the center and the rotation center C of the workpieceW are not centered on the same point, the position of the surface of theworkpiece W from the rotation center C which is detected by the positiondetector 480 situated upstream of the heating position P3 does notchange even in the heating position P3. Thus, by adjusting the positionof the heating coil 451 based on the detection value of the positiondetector 480, the heating coil 451 can be disposed accurately relativeto the position of the surface of the workpiece W so as to heat theworkpiece W.

This heat treatment apparatus 10 has the plurality of heaters 450 andthe plurality of actuators 460. In addition, the position detector 480is provided for each heater 450 and actuator 460. Therefore, theworkpiece W can be heated accurately in the plurality of positions.Thus, even a large workpiece W can be heated uniformly.

In the heat treatment apparatus 10, the rotary drive assembly 30includes the rotary drive device 246 and the rotary drive mechanism 150as the transmission unit. The rotary drive mechanism 150 has the drivegear 154 which is driven to rotate by the rotary drive device 246 andthe plurality of driven gears 155 which mesh with the drive gear 154 soas to be connected to the plurality of rotating rollers 112.

Therefore, the plurality of rotating rollers 112 can be rotateduniformly by means of the rotation of the rotary drive device 246 in thesimple configuration. Consequently, the rotation speed of the workpieceW can be controlled stably and accurately.

This heat treatment apparatus 10 includes the cooling jackets 520 as thecooling units for cooling the workpiece W which is heated in the heatingsection 450, and the rotary drive device 246 is disposed above theworkpiece W. Therefore, when cooling the workpiece W, the coolant isprevented from being brought into contact with the rotary drive device246, thereby making it possible to simplify the configuration of thewaterproofing construction remarkably.

According to the jig 100 of the heat treatment apparatus 10, theworkpiece W can be suspended via the conveyor connecting portion 132 ina state in which the workpiece W is supported on the workpiece support110, and the driving force can be input to the rotary drive mechanism150 (the transmission unit) via the driver connecting portion 133 torotate the workpiece W placed on the workpiece support 110 the ringshape of the workpiece W. Therefore, the workpiece W can be supportedusing the same jig 100 from the conveying of the workpiece W to theheating of the workpiece W. Thus, when heating the workpiece W afterbeing conveyed, it is not necessary to transfer or to position theworkpiece W.

The conveyor connecting portion 132 and the driver connecting portion133 are provided in the central structure unit 130. Therefore, with thecentral structure unit 130 connected to the suspending portion 245 andthe rotary drive device 246, the workpiece W can be conveyed while beingsuspended. Additionally, the workpiece W can be heated while beingrotated. Consequently, there is no need to provide separately astructure for supporting the workpiece W when it is conveyed and astructure for supporting the workpiece W when it is heated. Theworkpiece W can be connected to both the devices 132, 133 only by theworkpiece W being connected to the central structure unit 130. This canprovide the simple configuration.

Moreover, the workpiece W can be placed on the rotating rollers 12 ofthe workpiece support 110, and the workpiece W can be rotated by therotating rollers 12 while being supported on the jig 100 without beingfastened. Therefore, there is less limitation and high flexibility withrespect to the size and shape of the workpiece W. That is, the jig 100can commonly be used for workpieces W having different shapes, and itsrange of use is wide. Consequently, the jig 100 has broad range of use,and can support the workpiece with a simple configuration withouttransferring the workpiece W when conveying and heating the workpiece W.

In this jig 100, the connecting position of the driver connectingportion 133 is disposed above the workpiece W which is supported on theworkpiece support 110. Therefore, when cooling the workpiece W, thecoolant can be prevented from coming into contact with the rotary drivedevice 246.

In the jig 100, the rotary drive mechanism 150 includes the drive shaft152 and the plurality of driven shafts 153 which are connectedindividually to the plurality of rotating rollers 112. In addition, thedrive gear 154 on the drive shaft 152 meshes with the respective drivengears 155 on the plurality of driven shafts 153. Therefore, theplurality of driven shafts 153 can individually be driven to rotate byrotating the drive shaft 152 with the driving force input from thedriver connecting portion 133. Consequently, the rotation speed of theplurality of rotating rollers 112 can be controlled by controlling thedriving force, thereby making it possible to control the rotating speedof the workpiece W easily and stably.

In this jig 100, the workpiece support 110 includes the workpiecepositioning roller 121 which positions the inner circumference or theouter circumference of the workpiece W. Therefore, with the workpiecepositioning roller 121 disposed within the range which permits theposition error of the workpiece W, the workpiece W can be prevented frombeing placed on the jig 100 with the center of gravity of the workpieceW deviating largely, whereby the workpiece W can be conveyed with goodbalance. In addition, the workpiece W can be prevented from being placedon the jig 100 while deviating extremely from a track formed by theplurality of rotating rollers 112. Thus, the workpiece W can be rotatedalong the ring shape thereof in an ensured manner when it is heated.

According to the heat treatment apparatus 10 having the jig 100, theworkpiece W can be conveyed between the loading and unloading section300 and the heating section 400 so as to be heated in the heatingsection 400 with the workpiece W placed on the same jig 100. Therefore,as long as a workpiece can be placed and rotated on the jig 100, oncethe workpiece W is placed and positioned on the jig 100 in the loadingand unloading section 300, the workpiece W can be conveyed and heated inthat position.

In this way, the jig 100 can commonly be used for workpieces havingdifferent shapes, thereby providing wide range of use. Further, theworkpiece W can remain on the same jig 100 without being transferredonto a different jig in the loading and unloading section 300 and in theheating section 400, whereby the conveyance and heating of the workpieceW can easily be implemented. Thus, the jig 100 and the conveyormechanism 200 can commonly be used, which simplifies the configurationof the heat treatment apparatus 10.

Consequently, the heat treatment apparatus 10 a wide range of use, andcan facilitate the conveyance and heating of the workpiece W with asimple configuration.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, provided on the lifting base 240are the suspending portion 245 which is connected to the conveyorconnecting portion 132 and the rotary drive device 246 which isconnected to the driver connecting portion 133. The rotary drive device246 and the driver connecting portion 133 can be connected together byconnecting the suspending portion 245 to the conveyor connecting portion132. Therefore, the plurality of connecting devices can be integratedinto one unit, whereby the plurality of connecting operations involvedin the conveyance and heating of the workpiece W can be performed alltogether at one time. Consequently, the configuration and operation ofthe heat treatment apparatus 10 can be simplified further.

The rotary drive device 246 and the driver connecting portion 133 can beattached to and detached from each other in the vertical direction, andthe suspending portion 245 and the conveying connecting device 132 canbe attached to and detached from each other in the horizontal direction.Thus, by positioning the lifting base 240 relative to the jig 100 andlowering the lifting base 240, the rotary drive device 246 and thedriver connecting portion 133 can be connected together. The suspendingportion 245 and the conveyor connecting portion 132, on which the loadof the workpiece W acts, are connected together in the horizontaldirection. Therefore, even when the load of the workpiece W is large,sufficient connecting strength can be ensured. The connecting directionof the rotary drive device 246 and the driver connecting portion 133 isdifferent from the suspending portion 245 and the conveyor connectingportion 132. Therefore, as long as the suspending portion 245 and theconveyor connecting portion 132 are connected together, the rotary drivedevice 246 and the driver connecting portion 133 can be maintainedconnected. Thus, a mechanism for maintaining the rotary drive device 246in the connected state is unnecessary. Consequently, the connectingconstruction of the respective devices can be simplified.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the connecting protrusion 131 isprovided concentrically with the drive shaft 152. Therefore, when theconnecting protrusion 131 is connected to the suspending portion 245with the drive shaft 152 connected to the rotary drive device 246, theworkpiece W placed on the workpiece support 110 can be suspended by thesuspending portion 245 with good balance such that the rotating rollers112 can be rotated by the rotary drive device 246.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the dog clutch mechanism 140provided on the drive shaft 152 and capable of being locked in thevertical direction is provided by lowering the output shaft 256 of therotary drive motor 255. That is, locking is achieved only by loweringthe output shaft 256, thereby making it possible to simplify theoperation.

In the heat treatment apparatus 10, the conveyor connecting portion 132has the locking holes 134 which are larger than the locking pins 251 inthe positions on the central structure unit 130 which correspond to thelocking pins 251. The locking hole 134 has the substantially triangularshape which is wider than the locking pin 251. Therefore, when thelocking pins 251 are raised relative to the locking holes 134 bysuspending the central structure unit 130 by the suspending portion 245,the locking holes 134 in the central structure unit 130 are guided bythe locking pins 251, whereby the central structure unit 130 iscentered. Thus, the jig 100 can easily be suspended while beingcentered. Consequently, the jig 100 on which the workpiece W issupported can be conveyed in a stable manner.

The conveyor mechanism 200 includes the biasing device 262 that upwardlybiases the lifting base 240, on the lateral movement base 230, and inaddition to the lifter 261 that moves the lifting base 240 up and down.Therefore, when lifting the workpiece W, the lifting base 240 is biasedupwards by the biasing device 262. Thus, even when the weight of theworkpiece W is large, a driving force of the lifter 261 required to liftthe lifting base 240 can be reduced. On the other hand, when loweringthe workpiece W, the lifting base 240 loading the weight of theworkpiece W is lowered. Therefore, a driving force of the lifter 261required to lower the lifting base 240 may be small. As a result, evenwhen the weight of the workpiece W is large, the driving force requiredby the lifter 261 can be reduced, thereby making it possible to reducethe size of the lifter 261.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the cooling section 500 is providedbelow the heating section 400. Then, by lowering the jig 100, theworkpiece W placed on the jig 100 can be disposed in the cooling section500 to be cooled. Therefore, when the jig 100 is lowered without beingmoved in the horizontal direction, the workpiece W can easily bedisposed in the cooling section 500, thereby making it possible to startthe cooling of the workpiece W within a short period of time after thecompletion of heating thereof. Moreover, with the cooling section 500disposed below the heating section 400, the coolant is made difficult tobe brought into contact with the heaters 450, and this can simplify oromit a waterproofing construction.

The cooling section 500 provided below the heating section 400, andduring the heating, the jig 100 is supported f by the jig stoppers 413from below. Therefore, the jig 100 is positioned in a stable manner, andaccurate heating can be carried out. Further, the jig stoppers 413 ofthe heating section 400 can be released downwards. Therefore, whenmoving the jig 100 to the cooling section 500 after the heating, the jig100 can be released easily and quickly, so that the cooling of theheated workpiece W can be started in a short time.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the rotary drive device 246 isprovided on the lifting base 240. Therefore, the rotary drive device 246can be disposed above the workpiece W in the cooling section 500. Thus,the coolant is made difficult to be brought into contact with the rotarydrive device 246, and this can simplify or omit a waterproofingconstruction.

In the heat treatment apparatus 10, the heating section 400 includes thecircumferential positioning portion 411 which positions the jig 100 withrespect to the circumferential direction. Therefore, the jig 100 whichis conveyed to the heating section 400 by the conveyor mechanism 200 canbe positioned in the horizontal direction by the circumferentialpositioning portion 411. In addition to this, when induction heating theworkpiece W, not only can the jig 100 be prevented from moving by meansof magnetic force, but also the jig 100 can be prevented from moving bymeans of a reaction force generated when the rotation of the workpiece Wis changed.

In this heat treatment apparatus 10, the plurality of heaters 450 aredisposed at substantially equal intervals in the circumferentialdirection in the heating section 400. Therefore, the workpiece W isheated by the plurality of heaters 450 while being rotated. Thus, even alarge workpiece W can be heated uniformly along the entire circumferenceof the workpiece W.

In the heat treatment apparatus 10, the heating coils 451 or othercomponents of the heaters 450 can be held on the component replacementjig 620 disposed in the component replacing section 600 in the positionscorresponding to the heaters 450 which are disposed in the heatingsection 400. In addition, the component replacement jig 620 can beconnected to the suspending portion 245 of the conveyor mechanism 200.Therefore, a preparatory operation for a different type of workpiece Wcan be facilitated.

Modifications

While the present invention has been described with reference to acertain embodiment thereof, the scope of the present invention is notlimited to the embodiment described above, and it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may bemade therein. For example, in the embodiment, the heat treatmentapparatus is described in which the workpiece W is quenched by beingheated first and then being cooled. However, the invention can also beapplied to a different heat treatment apparatus in which no cooling isimplemented.

The workpiece W to be heated is not limited to the workpiece W havingthe circular ring shape with the circular cross section. Therefore, theinvention can also be applied to a workpiece having a ring shape with adifferent cross section such as an elliptic cross section.

The embodiment has been described by taking as an example the one-timequenching in which the heating coils 451 are disposed in the pluralityof positions along the circumference of the workpiece W to heat theworkpiece W at one time. However, the present invention can also beapplied similarly to a so-called moving quenching in which a heatingcoil 451 is disposed in a single position along the circumference of aworkpiece W to heat the workpiece W. In this case, in a heating section400, a heating coil 451 and an actuator 460 are disposed in a singleheating position for operation.

In the embodiment, only the surface of the workpiece W is described asbeing quenched. However, for example, the workpiece W may be heated to adeep portion therein by disposing heating coils so as to face an innersurface and an outer surface of the workpiece W in positions whichcorrespond to each other across the workpiece W for heating theworkpiece W. In this case, heating coils disposed on an inner surfaceside and heating coils disposed on an outer surface side may be of thesame type or a different type. In addition, the heating coil on theinner surface side and the heating coil on the outer surface side may becontrolled in position by a single actuator 460.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the workpiece support 110 hasthe plurality of radial bases 111 which extend radially from the centralstructure unit 130. However, the workpiece support 110 does not have tohave the plurality of radial bases 111. For example, the workpiecesupport 110 can be configured as a plate-shaped member having a circularor polygonal shape in a plan view or as a frame in which a plurality ofmaterials are combined together two-dimensionally orthree-dimensionally. The workpiece support 110 is configured so that theworkpiece W is placed flat thereon with the end face oriented downwards.However, the construction of the workpiece support 110 is notspecifically limited thereto, provided that the workpiece support 110can rotate along the ring shape while supporting the workpiece Wthereon. For example, the workpiece support 110 may be configured so asto rotate along the ring shape with the workpiece W placed inclinedobliquely or erected thereon.

The rotary drive assembly 30 is configured so as to drive to rotate allthe plurality of rotating rollers 112 which are provided on the jib 100via the rotary drive mechanism 150. However, as long as the workpiece Wcan be driven to rotate, a configuration may be adopted in which onlypart of the plurality of rotating rollers 112 are driven to rotate.

In the embodiment above, the positions of the two heating coils 451disposed downstream of the position detector 480 are adjusted inaccordance with the displacement of the surface of the workpiece Wdetected by the position detector 480. However, the number of heatingcoils 451 to be controlled in position and the position of the positiondetector 480 relative to the heating coils 451 can be changed asrequired.

In the embodiment, the outer ring of the bearing is described as beingheated as the workpiece W. However, an inner ring of the bearing canalso be heated. In this case, a heating coil 451 may be shaped to matchan outer circumferential surface of a workpiece W so as to face theworkpiece W from an outside thereof.

Further, the workpiece W is not limited to the bearing. Therefore, theinvention can be applied similarly to a ring-shaped workpiece which isused for a different purpose. In addition, the portion to be heated orheat treated is not limited to the inner circumferential surface or theouter circumferential surface of the workpiece W. For example, whenheating a lateral side surface of the workpiece W, it is possible to useas the heating coil 451 a heating coil 451 which has a shape matchingthe shape of a circumferentially continuous lateral side surface. Inthis case, as the heating coil 451, a heating coil 451 may be used inwhich a portion facing the workpiece W is an angular pipe formed into azigzag shape by bending the angular pipe at a plurality of bend portions451 f on an inside and an outside of the angular pipe and at bentportions 451 g provided between the bent portions 451 f. In this heatingcoil 451, a circumferential length of a portion situated far away fromthe rotation center C may be made longer than a circumferential lengthof a portion situated near the rotation center C.

In the embodiment, the rotation speed of the rotary drive motor 255 andthe detection values of the position detecting devices 483, 484 are usedto maintain the space between the heating coils 451 and the workpiece Wconstant. However, as indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 12, a speeddetector 427 is provided on part of the workpiece holding units 420 fordetecting the rotation of the holding roller 425 to thereby measure aperipheral speed of the surface of the workpiece. Thus, the detectionvalue of the speed detector 427 may be used in place of the rotationspeed of the rotary drive motor 255.

In this way, even when a slippage is generated between the rotatingrollers 112 and the workpiece W to thereby generate a deviation betweenthe speed of the rotary drive assembly 30 and the actual rotating speedof the workpiece W, the space between the heating coils 451 and theworkpiece W can be maintained constant with good accuracy.

In this embodiment, in the heating section 400, the heating coil 451 iscaused to follow the displacement of the workpiece W in each heatingposition P3 based on the displacement and the rotating speed of theworkpiece W measured by the respective position detecting devices 483,484, so that the heating coil 451 and the workpiece W are disposed inthe predetermined relative position. However, the heating coil 451 andthe workpiece W can be disposed in the predetermined relative positionby another method. For example, a displacement of the workpiece W ismeasured in advance prior to the start of heating so as to obtain aposition of the center of the workpiece W. Then, each of the heatingcoils 451 is moved in advance with respect to the position of the centerof the workpiece W. Thus, the workpiece W in the heating section 400 isdisposed in the predetermined relative position. Then, in this state,the heating coil 451 is energized, so that the workpiece W can be heattreated without displacing the heating coil 451 during heating.

What is claimed is:
 1. A heating apparatus comprising: a workpiecesupport on which a ring-shaped workpiece is placed; a rotary driveassembly; a heater configured to heat the workpiece; and a positiondetector, wherein the workpiece support comprises a plurality ofrotating rollers arranged in a circumferential direction, wherein therotary drive assembly is configured to rotate the plurality of rotatingrollers to rotate the workpiece placed on the workpiece support along aring shape of the workpiece, wherein the heater comprises: a heatingcoil configured to induction-heat the workpiece on the workpiece supportat a heating position; and an actuator configured to move the heatingcoil at the heating position relative to the workpiece to adjust adistance between the workpiece and the heating coil, wherein theposition detector is provided upstream of the heating position itdirection of the workpiece to detect a position of a surface of theworkpiece, and wherein the actuator moves the heating coil based on adetection by the position detector.
 2. The heating apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the heating position is between adjacent ones of therotating rollers.
 3. The heating apparatus according claim 1, comprisinga plurality of sets of said heaters and said actuators, and a pluralityof said position detectors provided for the respective sets of saidheaters and said actuators.
 4. The heating apparatus according to claim1, wherein the rotary drive assembly comprises: a drive device; and arotary drive mechanism configured to transmit a driving force of thedrive device to the plurality of rotating rollers, and wherein therotary drive mechanism comprises: a drive gear rotated by the drivedevice; and a plurality of driven gears, each of the driven gears beingengaged with the drive gear and connected to an associated one of therotating rollers.
 5. The heating apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe workpiece support further comprises a workpiece positioning portionconfigured to position an inner circumference or an outer circumferenceof the workpiece, wherein the workpiece positioning portion is providedin a protruding manner above the plurality of rotating rollers.
 6. Aheating apparatus comprising: a workpiece support on which a ring-shapedworkpiece is placed, the workpiece support comprising a plurality ofrotating rollers arranged in a circumferential direction; a rotary driveassembly configured to rotate the plurality of rotating rollers torotate the workpiece placed on the workpiece support along a ring shapeof the workpiece; a heater configured to heat the workpiece, the heatercomprising a heating coil configured to induction-heat the workpiece onthe workpiece support at a heating position, and an actuator configuredto move the heating coil at the heating position relative to theworkpiece to adjust a distance between the workpiece and the heatingcoil; a central structure unit to which the workpiece support isconnected such that the plurality of rotating rollers is arranged aroundthe central structure unit and such that the workpiece is placed on theworkpiece support to surround the central structure unit; a loadingsection in which the workpiece is placed on the plurality of rotatingrollers; a heating section in which the heater is provided; and aconveyor mechanism configured to convey the workpiece support togetherwith the workpiece in a suspended manner between the loading section andthe heating section, wherein the central structure unit comprises: aconveyor connecting portion connected to the conveyor mechanism tosuspend the workpiece support together with the workpiece.
 7. Theheating apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the conveyor mechanismcomprises a suspending portion engaged with the conveyor connectingportion such that the suspending portion is disengageable from theconveyor connecting portion in a lateral direction.
 8. The heatingapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the suspending portion comprisesa plurality of locking pins arranged in the circumferential directionsuch that each of the locking pins is slidable in the lateral direction,wherein the conveyor connecting portion comprises a plurality of lockingholes into which the locking pins are inserted respectively, whereineach of the locking holes has an upwardly tapered triangular shape. 9.The heating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the conveyormechanism further comprises: a conveyor rail provided between theloading section and the heating section; a lifter; a biasing device, alateral movement base configured to move along the conveyor rail and towhich the lifter and the biasing device are attached; and a lifting baseto which the suspending portion is attached, wherein the lifting base isconnected to the lateral movement base such that the lifting base iscapable of moving up and down relative to the lateral movement base,wherein the lifter is configured to move the lifting base up and down,and wherein the biasing device is configured to upwardly bias thelifting base when the lifting base is moving up.
 10. The heatingapparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a preparatory jigadapted to be suspended on the suspending portion; and a preparatorysection configured to accommodate the preparatory jig, wherein theconveyor rail is provided to extend to the preparatory section, andwherein the preparatory jig is configured to hold the heating coil. 11.The heating apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the heating sectioncomprises a circumferential positioning portion configured to positionthe workpiece support with respect to the circumferential direction. 12.A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a heating apparatus; and acooling unit, wherein the heating apparatus comprises: a workpiecesupport on which a ring-shaped workpiece is placed; a rotary driveassembly; and a heater configured to heat the workpiece, wherein theworkpiece support comprises a plurality of rotating rollers arranged ina circumferential direction, wherein the rotary drive assembly isconfigured to rotate the plurality of rotating rollers to rotate theworkpiece placed on the workpiece support along a ring shape of theworkpiece, the rotary drive assembly comprising a drive device and arotary drive mechanism configured to transmit a driving force of thedrive device to the plurality of rotating rollers, the rotary drivemechanism comprising a drive gear rotated by the drive device, and aplurality of driven gears, each of the driven gears being engaged withthe drive gear and connected to an associated one of the rotatingrollers, wherein the heater comprises: a heating coil configured toinduction-heat the workpiece on the workpiece support at a heatingposition; and an actuator configured to move the heating coil at theheating position relative to the workpiece to adjust a distance betweenthe workpiece and the heating coil, wherein the cooling unit is disposedbelow the workpiece support and configured to cool the workpiece heatedby the heater, and wherein the drive device is disposed above theworkpiece support.